Being on the staff of this paper has been like climbing a mountain. It’s been painful, exhausting, and sometimes I wonder if the view from the peak is worth the climb. From freshman to senior year, my strength and dedication have been tested. At times, I just wanted to give up. However, in the end, through some miracle, I reached the summit, and the view was breathtaking; the path just wasn’t what I expected. 

I wasn’t really supposed to be here. In my freshman course list, I requested to be put in the yearbook class and was disappointed to be put on the staff of the LASA Liberator. I was disappointed but resigned myself to just lean into this less-than-optimal situation. I expected to hate the LASA Liberator, and although sometimes I still very much agree with that initial assessment, I was proven wrong! I learned to really love this newspaper and all the people in it. 

This love wasn’t without struggle, I’m afraid. Throughout my four years here, I’ve failed more times than I’d like to admit, and I’ve succeeded more than I expected I would. In my freshman year, every failure sat in my chest and bored a hole into me until it physically hurt. I now realize that my failure is important. Failure burns, but I need to lean into the burn. If it burns, it means I care; it means I’m trying; it means I want to grow. The passion I have grown throughout my time at the LASA Liberator has driven me to the burn, and the sting of disappointment keeps me reaching for new challenges. I now know that it’s okay to be a failure sometimes! It’s important to suck at the things you love! Being the absolute worst for a time is an asset because if you’re always winning and always succeeding and nothing ever comes with struggle and difficulty, then you never grow or change. Passion means sticking with your craft through loss and taking as much from failures as you do from successes. My passion has been constant throughout my four years at the LASA Liberator, although I didn’t initially want to admit it. Each failure, each cutting word on my stories, each time that the work piled up and made me want to quit, each minor mistake that fell through the cracks has pushed me to work harder and strive for new heights. Passion is a constant cycle of summit and plunge, and you should crave the climb.